e short ladder and sprang out
upon its top just as The Fox came up after her plunge.

By great good fortune the imperiled girl had been carried beyond the
paddles. But the _Lanawaxa_ was steaming swiftly past the girl in
the water. Ruth knew very well that Mary Cox could not swim. She was
one of the few girls at Briarwood who had been unable to learn that
accomplishment, under the school instructor, in the gymnasium pool.
Whereas Ruth herself had taken to the art "like a duck to water."

Mary's face appeared but for a moment above the surface. Ruth saw it,
pale and despairing; then a wave washed over it and the girl disappeared
for a second time.

CHAPTER IV

TROUBLE AT THE RED MILL

The screams of the other girls had brought several of the male passengers
as well as some of the boat's crew to the forward deck. Mercy Curtis,
who had lain down in a stateroom to rest, drew back the blind and saw
Ruth poised on the wheel-box.

"Don't you do that, Ruth Fielding!" cried the lame girl, who knew
instinctively what her friend's intention was.

But Ruth paid no more attention to her than she had to the other girls.
She was wearing a heavy serge skirt, and she knew it would hamper her in
the water. With nimble fingers she unfastened this and dropped it upon
the deck. Then, without an instant's hesitation, she sprang far out from
the steamer, her body shooting straight down, feet-first, to the water.

Ruth was aware as she shot downward that Tom Cameron was at the rail
over her head. The _Lanawaxa_ swept by and he, having run astern, leaned
over and shouted to her. She had a glimpse of something swinging out
from the rail, too, and dropping after her into the lake, and as the
water closed over her head she realized that he had thrown one of the
lifebuoys.

But deep as the water was, Ruth had no fear for herself. She loved to
swim and the instructor at Briarwood had praised her skill. The only
anxiety she had as she sank beneath the surface was for Mary Cox, who
had already gone down twice.

She had leaped into the lake near where The Fox had disappeared. Once
beneath the surface, Ruth opened her eyes and saw the shadow of somebody
in the water ahead. Three strokes brought her within reach of it. She
seized Mary Cox by the hair, and although her school fellow was still
sinking, Ruth, with sturdy strokes, drew her up to the surface.

What a blessing it was to obtain a draught of pure air! But The Fox was
uncons